Scarehouse: the Basement 2018

-Etna, PA-

“Look into my eyes,” the stranger said gently, his face inches from my face as he held my hands. “What is your deepest fear?”

My thoughts raced trying to think of something less generic than “the dark” or “needles” to tell this stranger. I wanted to say something honest. What am I afraid of? Before I knew what I was saying, I blurted out, “being abandoned” and was shocked to realize I meant it.

The stranger, a young man about my age, immediately answered, “I’ll never abandon you!” as he and his friend hugged me reassuringly. I was shivering. Not because I was standing in the middle of Pittsburgh on a chilly, wet October evening, but because I was about to enter an experience known only as the Basement. A timer went off and a chill ran down my spine. It was time.

I first heard about the Basement three years ago and my curiosity was immediately piqued. A haunted house where you have to sign a waiver, go in by yourself, and potentially get touched and manhandled by the characters you interact with? That sounded terrifying, especially to someone who at that point had never even been inside a normal haunted house. I began to read more about this new breed of “extreme haunted houses” and thought there was no way I’d ever go through one. Yet, my curiosity remained and this year I decided to dip my toe in the pond of immersive horror theater with Scarehouse’s 2018 production of the Basement.

I made the trek to Pittsburgh from Chicago and that is how I found myself at the top of a flight of stairs into a dark basement after being shaken by a self-revelation. What followed was a dark theatrical journey that explored my fear of abandonment and my longing to feel wanted as I navigated my way through an initiation into a sinister cult operating under the guise of a social justice initiative. Indeed, the Basement was an experience unlike most haunted houses. Instead of monsters jumping out from elaborate sets and growling at you, characters have intimate conversations with you as you move from room to room.

If having conversations with strangers does not sound particularly scary or extreme to you, you are partially correct. The Basement was not as scary as I thought it would be. I was rarely filled with dread over taking my next step. However, the entire experience was still very unnerving and creepy. At one point, after having a deep conversation with a character that I will never forget, I found myself with a bag over my head and my hands strapped to a bench as that character proceeded to realistically (read: uncomfortably) simulate tattooing my arm. In another scene, I read a bedtime story to a young girl only for the situation to take a turn for the aggressive and darkly philosophical.

I was on edge throughout most of my odyssey through the dark shadows of the Basement, but the fear is not what I’m going to remember. I’m going to remember the questions that characters asked me and the things I learned about myself and my insecurities. Characters made me ask myself honest questions about my personal beliefs and faith. I came to understand what truly scares me the most.

Although I loved my experience, the Basement is not for everyone. Some will find it boring and overly artistic and cerebral while others will struggle to get through without calling the safe word that immediately ends the experience. I’d hesitate to call it extreme, compared to other shows out there, but personal space is definitely violated and you will probably be restrained and/or blindfolded at one point or another. However, for those willing to explore themselves and don’t mind a little bit of physical contact and adult subject matter the Basement is a thrilling and emotional place to play. I’d love to visit again and see what new stories the creative folk at Scarehouse will cook up.